Parties, parking lots, and blood on the floor; this is the world Caroline Romano brings us into on her new EP, How the Good Girls Die. Despite being only 21 years old, Romano is no stranger to the music scene. Romano has been recording and releasing music as far back as 2017 with the release of her single “Masterpiece”. So what new revelations has Ms. Caroline Romano conceived since then? Well, being young is hard, its excitement is fleeting, and it feels like it’s all about to unravel any second. The EP opens with the Lorde-inspired “Body Bag” which serves as a thesis for the rest of the project. Backing guitar and imagery of a past young love set the scene before the song whips into the present with a jittery bass as we go from party to party running from a broken heart. The song balances between a personal confession and club banger throughout before it nearly bursts.
From here we go into the pop-centric “Pretty Boys” that explores the kind of heartbreak alluded to in “Body Bag” and the seemingly inevitable failure of attractive men tinged with an Olivia Rodrigo-esque shine. The EP turns more introspective and acoustic on “Born To Want More” and “IDK These Days” which explore the struggles of the newfound, conflicting emotions of youth. On the ballad “Born To Want More”, Romano struggles to move on from a lost romance which carries over onto the guitar-picked “IDK These Days” where she feels both frustrated and at a loss of words after the dust settles (which features a guitar solo that sounds like the Beach Boys come to haunt you). On the honest “They Say”, Romano reveals her own doubts as the voices in her head of the people around her give her reasons to stay and try life, which manifests in a surrounding, haunting chorus.
The EP finishes with the title track, “How the Good Girls Die”, a slow-burning piano track that tries its hand with some cinematic strings and a Disney-style ending where Romano concludes that chasing love and the “next high” is “How the Good Girls Die”. While the EP often pulls a little too much from her sources, I believe Romano has something of her own brewing. Though the acoustic ballads are generally well-written and performed, songs like the opening “Body Bag” that have a high-energy, jittery sound keep me interested in more. With a little bit of time and a little honing of her sound, Ms. Romano could find a firm footing and finally make her major breakthrough.
- Bentley Bradford
